by Kerstyn

Hi friends! I had to take a break but we’re back to the Thick Thighs Project where I, an active hobbyist, try on a bunch of pants so you don’t have to. 

Some quick biometric data about myself I’ll put in every review to help you take what you need and leave the rest: my natural waist (above my bellybutton) is about 29″ and my usual “pants height waist” fluctuates from 30-33″ depending on bloat, lunar position, and food. My hip measurement is 39″ but I typically try to order for 40-41″ to allow for movement and thigh size. I can wear 28-30″ inseams depending on how the pants are cut. In street clothes I wear anything from 8-14 in women’s sizing (LOL) or a 32/33 by 30 in men’s sized pants.

Normally this is where I say I bought these with my own money but we’re going off the rails for this one! This product was sent to me for free and the links included are the bargain. We still didn’t receive any money or agree to anything but publishing a post with the links provided, and I still wore the pants and evaluated them myself. 

So I have today some Born Tough Tracksuit Bottoms. Lis got a pair of spat leggings from their sister company. Those are a bit more geared to actually working out, whereas mine I think are more for athleisure style, so I might have to go slightly off script. Let’s find out!

What I Ordered + Size Selection

Like I said, we both discussed who would try which garment. Since I’d been doing standard leggings for a while, I figured I’d try out the more jogger type pant. I also don’t really own or wear joggers so this was fun anyway.

I’ve learned it’s hard to really photograph black, so even though I love black, I decided I’d go with this kind of soft brown. Unfortunately the size chart link you can see didn’t open anything, and as you can see on their site the Fit section just shows true to size. I’ve seen this on a lot of other sites and don’t really get it, because I feel letter sizing is kind of made up so how is it true? But at any rate I asked for a Large if possible or a Medium if not, figuring I’d be around in there.

Initial Impressions

I don’t know when exactly Lis finished arranging with the brand, but it seemed like they showed up at my door pretty quickly. At first the pants (I wound up with a Medium) looked very small, so tossed them in the wash and air dried them in hopes maybe they were just packed down tightly. I was still skeptical but was indeed able to wear them. The material turned out to be a lot stretchier than I expected, because it feels like a standard thick “sweatpants” type of material which I don’t expect to really stretch. I will say, I think the seam work they did is pretty flattering. They have one pocket which is pretty deep. 

Stretching

I did a brief session on my mat and was once again pleasantly surprised by the material. I was able to move a lot more than I expected, and would say the only real sticking point is that the waistband has a lot of stitching (necessary to keep the drawstring in place) and I was kind of bloated that day, so forward folds reminded me of my status often as the waist didn’t have as much freedom as the legs. I could see these working well for someone who wants to wear joggers for their work or errands but also be able to do a short stretch session (good for desk dwellers like me).

Running

Here’s where, as I expected, I have to deviate from my usual plan for these reviews. I’m not sure what to evaluate here because I frankly am unwilling to go for a run in tight fitting heavy fabric, I’ve done it before and I know it leads to chafing. That said, I don’t want to zero out this section because I think in a bigger size they’d be passable for warm up pants over a pair of shorts for the beginning of a race or a chilly jog. This gives me a nice opportunity to point out: I think I should really be in the largest size this brand offers, a Large. I think this is insufficient, since humans of the XL or XXL variety also need good training gear. I wound up giving these pants half points in my spreadsheet for Running (explaining that here so you know what happened). 

Lifting

The biggest issue here is that I personally don’t like such a heavy pant for lifting. I actually used to refuse to wear pants to lift and would just wear long socks with shorts on cold days or for deadlifts. I try to be impartial for these reviews, but there is the weird personal truth. Functionally there isn’t a lot to add beyond the Stretching and Running portions, I think if I had a size up these would be really cozy over shorts for warmup sets or maybe machines where I don’t want my bare legs sitting on the same seats all the other butts have visited.

Overall Thoughts + Grade

You know, I went into this very skeptical. I tried very hard not to be too kind to these on the basis of them being free. These are really comfy through the seat in a way I don’t usually find in leggings or workout pants (I suspect because most brands are trying to give you an Instagram booty wedgie right now). I think my biggest hurdle wasn’t the pants themselves but the sizing, and if I had gotten a Large I’d add them to my rotation for days I’ll be at home but also want to encourage myself to do some light exercise (changing clothes become a barrier to working out for me. The couch can be sat on in any clothes.) 

They wound up getting a borderline D to D+. They’re pants. You can put your legs in them. 

Born Tough is a worldwide company. Find them here:

https://www.borntough.com/collections/workout-clothes-for-women
https://au.borntough.com//collections/womens-workout-track-suits
https://uk.borntough.com/collections/womens-workout-leggings-and-bottoms

-Sandbag K

Kerstyn is a remote member of the Smash fam, residing in sunny vegetarian-friendly California. When not pumping iron she works in computer security and also enjoys martial arts and trying new sports. She met Lis Smash in spring 2018 at the CrossFit South Cobb powerlifting camp that Lis coached. And then she moved across the country like a jerk.  Follow her on Insta at @thescullyeffect.